Psychology
ADHD in adults: signs, assessment and treatment
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Confirmation bias
Also known as Myside bias
The tendency to notice, seek out and believe information that supports what you already think, and to overlook or dismiss what contradicts it.
In Psychology
Confirmation bias is the habit of looking for, interpreting and remembering information in a way that supports what we already believe. Psychologist Raymond Nickerson's influential 1998 review called it "a ubiquitous phenomenon in many guises": it shows up in science, courts, medicine and everyday life.
In health it cuts both ways. Someone with health anxiety searches their symptoms and remembers only the frightening possibilities; someone convinced a remedy works notices the good days and forgets the bad ones. It affects relationships too — once you have decided a relative is "a narcissist", everything they do seems to prove it. Doctors are not immune, which is one reason good practice is to list a rather than stop at the first idea.
Ways to counter it
- Ask what evidence would change your mind, then go and look for it.
- Talk to a well-informed person who disagrees with you.
- Use balanced sources, such as the NHS or WHO, rather than forums full of worst cases.
Where this comes up
Psychology
Cognitive biases: the thinking shortcuts that mislead us about health
Cognitive biases are predictable errors built into normal thinking. Knowing the common ones helps you judge medicines, forwards and advice more clearly.
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Related terms
- Cognitive biasCognitive biases, Thinking biasA predictable error in thinking that comes from the mental shortcuts the brain uses to make quick judgements. Everyone has them; they are not a sign of illness.
- Cognitive dissonanceThe uncomfortable tension of holding two conflicting beliefs, or of acting against your own values, and the mental adjustments people make to ease it.
- Cognitive distortionCognitive distortions, Thinking errorsA habitual, inaccurate way of reading events — such as all-or-nothing thinking or mind reading — that makes things seem worse than they are. Spotting them is central to CBT.
- RuminationOverthinking, BroodingGoing over the same upsetting thoughts again and again — why something happened, what it means, what is wrong with you — without reaching a solution. It deepens low mood.